He Watches
by unicorn24601
Summary: My entry for SummerSnitch's É/E contest. He watches her every night in the cafe. That's all he ever does- watch.


**This is my entry for the É/E writing contest put on by the wonderful SummerSnitch. Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Les Misérables.**

Prologue

He grows up rich and secluded, his father believing that his only purpose is to be an heir and honor the family name. His mother believes in him, but his father ignores her, telling her that their son is only good for his name.

She grows up loved, cared for, and spoiled. She is pampered by her parents, but that changes when they lose their money and she becomes a gamine, scrounging to put food in her stomach, and having to do her father's bidding.

Their paths cross, and marble cracks.

* * *

The first night she enters the cafe, with dirt smudged on her face and caked into her hair, he takes notice of her immediately. She comes in with Marius, who is blind to her affections. She has sadness in her eyes and bruises on her arms.

He watches her every night. He watches her talk to the boys, every once in a while with a sparkle in her eyes. He watches as she stares at his friend, and he wants to hit him and tell him to wake up and see what he's missing.

She never watches back, but when he speaks, she seems to take slight interest. He finds this makes him put more effort into the speeches- he wants to be the one to make her eyes sparkle.

One night he comes home and looks in the mirror. He realizes suddenly that he is in love with her. He does not know how he let that happen.

He watches the night he is told that General Lamarque is dead, and her ears perk up and her eyes flicker to Marius.

He watches as she slips into the cafe unnoticed with a cap concealing her long hair. She has come to save Marius, he is sure. He doesn't want her to risk her life, but he keeps his composure and pretends he doesn't see.

As he climbs onto the carriage with the coffin on it, he watches her at the bottom, keeping a worried eye on Marius. How he wishes her glances were for him.

He watches her as he stacks another chair onto the growing mound that will soon become the barricade. She is hanging back, obviously scared to be noticed as a girl and not a male volunteer. No one notices her. Except for him. He always notices her.

He watches her react when Marius grabs the gunpowder and torch, starting to climb.

He watches as she jumps in front of Marius, he watches as she takes the bullet, and he watches as she falls, clutching her chest.

He does not want to just watch anymore.

He runs over and takes her in his arms. He tells her everything is going to be alright, she will be fine.

She shakes her head. She knows she will not be, that this is the end for her.

He tells her that he will make her live, he doesn't want her to leave. He can't have her leave.

She asks why with a tight lipped smile, finally a smile directed at him.

He answers with a soft kiss. For a moment, both the pain in her chest and the pain in his heart ebbs. When he pulls away, she has a real, actual smile on her weak face.

He asks her if she sees why she needs to stay. Here, with him. For him.

Her smile fades. She does not understand. She does not know how the marble man can feel those feelings for her. How he can have feelings at all is mystery to her.

He tells her how he watches her, how he has always watched her from the very first moment he laid eyes on her.

He lets her know how he feels and how he has always felt.

She wishes she feels the same, that she could have mutual love in her life. Perhaps, she could grow to love him, in fact, she is certain that she would fall in love with him in time, but she cannot. She has no time to fall in love with any other than Marius Pontmercy. She is about to die. He sees all of these thoughts in her eyes as she thinks them.

It is raining, and they are both drenched, and he starts to carry her inside, saying that they will find a way to save her.

She says no, rain makes flowers grow. She tells him not to fret. She is not in pain, she is just fine.

He watches her close her eyelids. He watches her expire.

His friends come over and take her away. He is reluctant to let them lift her up, reluctant to let her go. He returns to his revolutionary tasks, feeling like an empty shell.

His friends all try to talk to him, asking him how long he had been in love with her, asking if they'd secretly been together the whole time. He wishes he could say yes.

He wants to blame it on Marius, but he knows her fate wasn't his fault. He wishes there was someone to blame other than himself.

He watches his friends fall, fall for the cause that he led them to. He watches their short lives end, and he feels such pain in his chest. It would be worse, he knows, it would be so much worse if he wasn't an empty shell.

When it is his turn, he has no fear. He has no one, no one but Patria.

He tells himself he is dying for her.

"Vive la Patria," he says.

But he is not dying for Patria.

"Vive la Éponine," he thinks.

He falls out of the window, with regret filling his mind.

Regret that they were not together; regret that he had let her die.

Regret that he had only watched.


End file.
